Kitchen Advice please

[Alison556]

I'm thinking about getting my kitchen redone sometime soon.

I've heard lots of bad things about many of the DIY places for kitchens and wondered if anyone could give me recommendations please.

The options I've been looking at (and are available round here) are:

Wickes
Jewson
An independant who stocks Sheraton and Cuisina/Omega

Who would be the best place to go to?

And how do I go about finding a good kitchen fitter? I don't want to just go for somebody out the yellow pages and find out to my cost that they're not very good!!

Thanks for any help.

Alison

 

[Richard C]

At the budget end, it’s really about personal preference but, in my opinion, MFI (or Howden’s which is their trade outlet) do some of the most stylish & well made kitchens in their price range; but they are not flat pack. I’ve had one of their oak, shaker style kitchens for 3 years now; it was their most expensive but it’s very nice & I’ve had no problems with bits falling off. A developer friend of also mainly uses Howden’s in the new properties he builds.

As far as fitters go, beware as there are lots of cowboys out there; if you’re not confident about sourcing a fitter yourself, use one the supplier recommends.
Whoever you use, if the installation involves ANY electrical work make sure the fitter is qualified, is registered under Part P & gives you a compliance certificate for any electrical work he does.

 

[andywatson]

Just bought a nice Wickes one. How much difference is there between that and a more expensive one- far too early to tell. Be prepared to haggle though- it made a big difference to the price we paid!

I went to infinity, and the price difference was HUGE!

I am sure plenty of people will tell me that they are better quality, but at the end of the day the equivalent Wickes one can be replaced in half the time if necessary (which I doubt).

 

[Alison556]

Thanks, I heard a lot of good things about Wickes kitchens but it's nice to hear it from somebody who's actually got one.

Unfortunately, I've not had a good experience with Howdens. Their guy came out and measured, went away and did the design, but wouldn't actually discuss the design with me, then when the fitter came to see me, he couldn't give me a price because they hadn't given him one to give to me until the design was finalised but I couldn't finalise the design because he wouldn't speak to me about it...................go figure.

It was all very secret society-ish and I can't be bothered with that.

And in case you wonder why I'm looking for a fitter when I originally had one - the poor guy had a heart attack (it was nothing to do with my kitchen though!!)

 

[Richard C]

I suppose customer service comes down to the individual your dealing with, you’ve obviously had a bad experience but mine was fine. My units were, however, supply only & it was quality of materials & construction I was mainly concerned with, which is why my friend uses them. I looked at them all 3 years ago &, at the time, the Howden units took some beating at the price. I suppose if you have the factor of “in house” designers & sub-contract fitters, this may well make a big difference to your personal experience. Anyway, good luck with whoever you use &, as I said, chose your fitter very carefully!

 

[pantsmachine]

I replaced my kitchen about 4 years ago, i used the old carcasses(schreiber) and sourced the doors i wanted through MFI. Bought in January sales and got a great deal. Sourced my own handles online, bought my fitted appliances online, worktops from MFI, lighting from online and went for it big time. I am about to extend the kitchen again and use another 3 wall units and another three floorstanders with a breakfast bar again all sourced through MFI. I mention all this as kitchens can be done for a decent price with a 10 grand look if you take your time and source your gear yourself.

If your carcasses are still in good condition and you can re use them you can save a load right there. If i remeber correctly the two bulk main kitchen suppliers are schreiber and Hygena. You can tell which if any of these two you have by measuring down from the top of the doors to centre point on the hinge. This way you can try MFI(schreiber) or B&Q(Hygena). They would never be my first stop for any diy gear but in my case the saving on the kitchen and the deal mfi had on at the time was too good to pass up. I'll see if i can find the top of door to hinge size so you can identify if one of them is yours.